Why No Talking After Washing for Bread?

Washing one's hands
before eating bread is one of the seven rabbinic mitzvahs instituted by the
sages (the other six are Hallel, Purim, Chanuka,
eruv for Shabbat, lighting Shabbat
candles, and saying blessings [e.g. before eating]).

After washing our hands, we don’t talk until we eat the
bread. To understand why, we first need to examine why we wash our hands in the
first place.

Why We Wash for
Bread

The Torah commands us to separate a small percentage of
the wheat, wine and olive oil we produce and give it as a gift to the kohen (priest). Called terumah, this separated portion is holy
and may not become impure.

Since people tend to fidget and touch all kinds of things
unknowingly, the sages declared that, by default, hands have a minor degree of
impurity. The kohen must therefore
wash his hands before partaking of terumah.1

Biblically, terumah
is to be taken from grain, wine and oil. Now, wine and oil are usually handled
in a vessel and not touched directly with one’s hands, so it was never
necessary to wash hands before consuming them. Grain, however, is usually eaten
in the form of bread, so the rabbis required washing one’s hands before eating
bread.2

The sages didn’t want to differentiate between different
kinds of people (kohanim and
Israelites), nor between breads (terumah
and ordinary bread), so they instituted hand-washing before any kind of bread,
thus ensuring that a kohen would
never eat his terumah without
washing.3

Sanctity Before G‑d

Additionally, the sages of the Talmud find support for
washing before bread in the following verse: “You shall sanctify yourselves and
be holy, for I am the L‑rd, your G‑d.” They expound, “‘You shall sanctify yourselves’—this
refers to washing before eating. ‘And be holy’—this refers to washing after
eating.” Washing before bread is so important, the sages say, that neglecting
it can lead to poverty (or worse).

No Interruptions

Since the purpose of
washing our hands is to purify them before eating bread, we
must be careful not to get involved in any distracting activity or discussion
between washing and the meal, lest we inadvertently
touch something impure (or filthy).

Based on this,
some rabbis explain that if we sit idly and do not perform any activity that
involves a diversion of attention, even if we wait a substantial amount of
time, and even if we chat, it should not be of concern, provided that the table
is set before us and we clearly have the intention to eat the bread.4

No Harm

In practice,
however, we are careful to make the Hamotzi blessing as quickly after washing
as possible, and also not to speak or engage in any activities between washing
and the Hamotzi.

The Jerusalem
Talmud states, “Whoever recites the blessing directly after washing his hands
will not suffer harm during that entire meal.”5 Based
on this, many rabbis explain that one should be careful not to make a verbal
interruption between washing and the Hamotzi.6 And
although some opine that two or three words are not considered an interruption,7
others say to be careful of any
speech whatsoever unless it pertains to the actual meal (e.g. “please pass the
salt,” which is need for the Hamotzi).8

Do I Need to Wash Again?

Although we try
not to speak at all, if one did in fact speak between washing and the Hamotzi,
as long as he did not touch anything dirty or a part of the body that is
normally covered,9
he doesn’t wash again. If one goes to the bathroom during the meal, he must
wash his hands again for bread, but he doesn’t recite the blessing.10

It is interesting
to note that washing our hands for bread is closely related to the arrival of
Moshiach. After all, there is no terumah
nowadays, yet we still wash our hands so that “the Children of Israel will be
habituated to eat in a state of ritual purity when the Holy Temple will be
rebuilt; may this take place speedily, in our days.”11

Although in his Shulchan Aruch, Rabbi
Schneur Zalman writes that a two or three words would be permitted, in his Seder Netilas Yadayim, sec. 6, which was
written later he writes: “One must take care not even to conduct a [very] brief
conversation.” In his notes on that law, the Lubavitcher Rebbe suggests that
this implies that even two or three words are forbidden. See Torat Menachem on
Seder Netilat Yadayim, ad loc.

A noted scholar and researcher, Rabbi Yehuda Shurpin serves as content editor at Chabad.org, and writes the popular weekly Ask Rabbi Y column. Rabbi Shurpin is the rabbi of the Chabad Shul in St. Louis Park, Minn., where he resides with his wife, Ester, and their children.

If one makes an unexpected noise which requires one to say “Excuse Me” immediately after making the noise, in order to be polite, is this an exception to the rule about not talking after washing?
Reply

Eliezer Zalmanovfor Chabad.orgAugust 27, 2019

in response to Jesse Corey:

If someone is in a situation where not saying "excuse me" will result in a chilul Hashem, under those circumstances you may speak, and then wash again.
Reply

David ChesterPetach Tikva, IsraelNovember 15, 2018

Wider explanations and concepts
If hand washing was simply a ritual observance, the concept of physical cleanliness would be forgotten. We wash our hand and other parts too, because we want to avoid dirt and germs, and this should be seen as a part of the instructions to be ritually clean. That is why we wash our hands many times more when preparing food to eat, and when returning from the bathroom.
Reply

Henry LondonFair LawnNovember 14, 2018

German Jewish minhag of washing before kiddush
If this is so about washing hands, then let me ask this.Why do the German Jews have the custom of washing before Kiddush on Shabbat, and then going directly to say hamotzi?
Reply

AnonymousSimi Valley, CAJune 24, 2019

in response to Henry London:

Because we are going to eat bread, the Shabbat Challa. It is still bread is it not? Even more at a Shabbat kiddish we want to express our allegiance to Hashem with a respectful mitzvah, that ritual purity that binds us to Torah.
Reply

HankNew Jersey August 28, 2019

in response to Anonymous:

German Jewish Minhag
Doesn't answer my question. Just restates what the article says.The question, to be clear, is :Why do Jews of German descent wash before kiddush, make kiddush, and the after drinking they immediately make Motzei?
Reply

Yehuda Shurpin (author)August 28, 2019

in response to Hank:

In short, there is a disagreement whether reciting Kiddush is an interruption between washing the hands and Hamotzi. The Halacha follows the opinion that it is not considered an interruption, nevertheless, "a person who desires to be stringent with himself and not wash until after Kiddush is acting in a desirable manner" (see Shulchan Aruch Harav 271:23). The Mishnah Berurah (271:58) notes a custom by some that everybody but the one reciting the Kiddush would wash beforehand (others, however, note that the same potential issue of interruption can, in theory, apply to those listing and fulfilling their obligation for kiddush as well).

Now, the halacha is that if one doesn't have wine and makes kiddush on Challah, then they wash before kiddush. Since it was quite common in those days not to have wine for kiddush and instead use Challah, in order there be a uniform practice and not one time wash before kiddush and then next time afterward, the custom in some communities developed to always wash beforehand, See Shulchan Aruch 271 and Mishnah Berurah 271:61).
Reply